Lima, 14 December 2014 — A new 2015 agreement on climate change, that will harness action by all nations, took a further important step forward in Lima following two weeks of negotiations by over 190 countries. Nations concluded by elaborating the elements of the new agreement, scheduled to be agreed in Paris in late 2015, while also agreeing the ground rules on how all countries can submit contributions to the new agreement during the first quarter of next year. These Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) will form the foundation for climate action post 2020 when the new agreement is set to come into effect.

During the two week 20th Conference of the Parties involving 11,000 delegates, countries also made significant progress in elevating adaptation onto the same level as action to cut and curb emissions.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, the Minister of the Environment of Peru and the COP President, said: "Lima has given new urgency towards fast tracking adaptation and building resilience across the developing world—not least by strengthening the link to finance and the development of national adaptation plans. Meanwhile here in Lima, governments have left with a far clearer vision of what the draft Paris agreement will look like as we head into 2015 and the next round of negotiations in Geneva."

The Lima Climate Conference achieved a range of other important outcomes and decisions and "firsts" in the history of the international climate process.

• Pledges were made by both developed and developing countries prior to and during the COP that took the capitalization of the new Green Climate Fund (GCF) past an initial $10 billion target.

• Levels of transparency and confidence-building reached new heights as several industrialized countries submitted themselves to questioning about their emissions targets under a new process called a Multilateral Assessment.

• The Lima Ministerial Declaration on Education and Awareness-raising calls on governments to put climate change into school curricula and climate awareness into national development plans.

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said: "Governments arrived in Lima on a wave of positive news and optimism resulting from the climate action announcements of the European Union, China and the United States to the scaling up of pledges for the Green Climate Fund. They leave Lima on a fresh wave of positivity towards Paris with a range of key decisions agreed and action-agendas launched, including on how to better scale up and finance adaptation, alongside actions on forests and education. The negotiations here reached a new level of realism and understanding about what needs to be done now, over the next 12 months and into the years and decades to come if climate change is to be truly and decisively addressed."

Progress was made in Lima on elevating adaptation onto the same level as the curbing and cutting of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. This will be done through recognition that National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) offer an important way of delivering resilience. Countries supported the idea of replicating this in Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and Africa.

The International Mechanism on Loss and Damage has an array of actions areas, including enhancing the understanding of how loss and damage due to climate change affects particularly vulnerable developing countries and populations including indigenous or minority status ones. It will also seek to better the understanding of how climate change impacts human migration and displacement.

The government of Peru launched a new portal, with support from the UNFCCC, to increase the visibility of the wealth of climate action among cities, regions, companies and investors, including those under international cooperative initiatives. The portal – named the Nazca Climate Action Portal – is designed to inject additional momentum into the process through to Paris by demonstrating the wealth of non-state action.

Providing transparency of developed country action

The first ever Multilateral Assessment was launched in Lima marking an historic milestone in the implementation of the Measurement, Reporting and Verification of emission reductions under the UNFCCC. Over two days, 17 developed countries with quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets were assessed by other governments or ‘Parties’ to the Convention. The Multilateral Assessment showed that the number of success stories and best practices in policy and technology innovation alongside nations decoupling emissions from economic growth is increasing.

Forests and the Lima Information Hub for REDD +

Countries meeting in Lima made progress on providing support to avoid deforestation. Colombia, Guyana, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico formally submitted information and data on the status of their greenhouse gas emission reductions in the forest sector to the UNFCCC secretariat following a similar submission by Brazil earlier in the year. These baselines are likely to increase the possibility of obtaining international funding under initiatives like Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). In support of this, an ‘information hub’ will be launched on the UNFCCC web site, spotlighting actions by countries carrying out REDD+ activities. The aim is to bring greater transparency on both the actions being undertaken, including safeguards for communities and the payments being made.

Providing technology to developing countries

The Lima meeting sent an important signal that the transfer of climate technologies with the assistance of the UN and other international agencies is picking up speed. The Climate Technology Centre and Network reported that it had received around 30 requests for assistance this year, and expects the figure to grow to more than 100 next year. The UNFCCC’s Technology Mechanism was further strengthened through a link to the Green Climate Fund and the UNFCCC Finance mechanism. The first research project funded under the technology mechanism was announced just prior to the Lima climate conference, involving the monitoring of climate change’s impact on biodiversity in Chile.

Lima Work Programme on Gender

The role of women is key to the response to climate change, and needs to be strengthened. The Lima conference agreed a Lima Work Programme on Gender to advance gender balance and to promote gender sensitivity in developing and implementing climate policy.

Education and Awareness-raising

The Lima Ministerial Declaration on Education and Awareness-raising was announced (see below). It is aimed at developing education strategies that incorporate the issue of climate change in curricula, while also raising awareness on climate change in the design and implementation of national development and climate change strategies.

Peru and France launch Lima-Paris Action Agenda

The governments of Peru and France, as the incoming COP Presidency, launched a Lima-Paris Action Agenda to catalyze action on climate change, to further increase ambition before 2020 and support the 2015 agreement. Building on the UN Climate Summit in September 2014, the agenda is designed to galvanize national, city and private sector action. Among other things, the agenda will help to convene key global, national, subnational and local leaders and to showcase key significant partnerships and actions of non-state actors.

The Ministers and Heads of Delegation attending the twentieth session of the Conference of the Parties and the tenth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, held in Lima, Peru, from 1 to 12 December 2014,

Reaffirming the importance of Article 6 of the Convention and Article 10(e) of the Kyoto Protocol,

Recalling decision 15/CP.18,

Concerned about the impacts of climate change on both current and future generations,

Recognizing that education, including formal, non-formal and informal education, and public awareness programmes should promote the attitudes and behaviour needed to prepare our societies to adapt to the impacts of climate change,

Reaffirming that public participation, access to information and knowledge are crucial for developing and implementing effective policies to combat climate change and adapt to its impacts, as well as to engage actively, as appropriate, all stakeholders, including children, youth, the elderly, women, persons with disabilities, indigenous and local communities and non-governmental organizations in the implementation of these policies,

Underlining that effective climate change action requires public understanding of the issues at stake and the potential benefits of climate action, and that there is a need for public understanding that a transformation is necessary now to avoid increasingly serious consequences in the future,

Acknowledging the progress made by Parties, international organizations, civil society and other stakeholders in planning, coordinating and implementing activities related to education, training, public awareness, public participation and access to information,

Recalling the outcomes of major United Nations conferences and summits related to education,

Considering, in this context, the importance of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 10 to 12 November 2014, which called for urgent action to further strengthen and scale up education for sustainable development,

1. Stress that education, training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information, knowledge and international cooperation play a fundamental role in meeting the ultimate objective of the Convention and in promoting climate-resilient sustainable development;

2. Reaffirm our commitment to promote and facilitate, at the national and, as appropriate, at subregional and regional levels, and in accordance with national laws and regulations, and within the respective capacities, the development and implementation of educational and public awareness programmes on climate change and its effects, of public access to information on climate change and its effects and of public participation in addressing climate change;

3. Encourage governments to develop education strategies that incorporate the issue of climate change in curricula and to include awareness-raising on climate change in the design and implementation of national development and climate change strategies and policies in line with their national priorities and competencies;

4. Urge all Parties to give increased attention, as appropriate, to education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information on climate change;

5. Encourage all Parties to participate in, and to benefit from, the work of intergovernmental panels and expert groups established under the United Nations on matters related to climate change education, natural science and public awareness;

6. Express our resolve to cooperate and engage through multilateral, bilateral and regional complementary initiatives that aim to raise awareness and enhance education on climate change and its impacts, opportunities and co-benefits;

7. Reaffirm our commitment to the implementation of the Doha work programme on Article 6 of the Convention.